With more people sharing more content online all the time, Verizon is pushing upload speeds that match download speeds for its FiOS residential and work-at-home customers. The idea behind the free upgrade is to make it faster and easier to share videos and photos, send data to the cloud, and join in video chats.

Why is Verizon making this move now? You might say the company is preparing for the future. Verizon is expecting upload activity on its FiOS network to double by late 2016 -- and that’s just the beginning. By boosting upload speeds, the company is aiming to offer stronger value for customers in a competitive landscape.

According to market research firm IDC’s studies of digital consumers, more than 20 percent of U.S. broadband households are so-called “power users.” That means they are frequently online and uploading nearly as much content, such as video and music, as they download. By 2017, IDC estimates the population of “power user” households will see a 60 percent growth and it will continue to increase nationwide beyond that.

"IDC believes that both the upload and download speed demands of today's power user will inevitably become the norm in the coming years," said Matt Davis, program director of consumer multiplay and broadband services research for IDC.

"Verizon's decision to give every FiOS Internet upload speeds that mirror its industry-leading download speeds is a step forward for U.S. digital consumers -- and unique among the major U.S. broadband Internet providers. Because the upgrade is free, it delivers tremendous value to FiOS subscribers and strongly positions Verizon to meet the growing demand for upstream Internet speed."

The Need for Speed

How much faster are the new speeds? As an example, the lowest tier of existing speeds are 15 megabits per second for downloading and 5 megabits per second for uploading. The new speeds will offer 15 down and 15 up. Top-tier speeds currently offer 500 download megabits speed and 100 upload megabits speed. New speeds will offer 500 down and 500 up.

We caught up with Jeff Kagan, an independent technology analyst, to get his thoughts on the upgrade. He told us this is great news for Verizon customers.

Customers are used to getting high download speeds, he said, but upload speeds have always been slower. The upgrade means FiOS customers can upload videos to YouTube, for example, at the same brisk speeds as they can download.

“Yesterday this would not have been a big deal since we never sent big files. But today that's changing and customers are sending big files both through the online world and through devices,” Kagan said. “If we pull the camera back we see this is happening throughout the entire industry. Speeds are increasing including upload speeds. And this trend will continue for a long time.”

Verizon customers don’t need to do anything to get the free upgrade. However, the company said those who don’t want to wait can visit the Verizon My Rewards+ page to sign up for the program. Customers who don’t sign up will see upgrades phased in over coming months. All told, 95 percent of existing FiOS customers will eventually get the upgrade.

The LED replacing the incandescent light bulb finally went on at Verizon. Symmetric up down internet speed are a negligible cost and a big sales feature for those customers who provide 120% of Verizons profits. At home or at work people responsible for solving problems 24/7 want uploads and multi way 2160p secure video conferences.

Bluffing, prevaricating so called collaborators can either get with the team or their off the team. The same goes for ATT and Comcast.